


Voltron: Next Generation

by EchoShimmer



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altea (Voltron), Altean magic, Angst, Blades of Marmora, Canon Continuation, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Depressed Lance (Voltron), Depression, Empath, F/F, Galaxy Garrison, Hurt/Comfort, IGF Atlas, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Langst, M/M, Minor Violence, New Voltron Paladins, Post-Season/Series 08 Finale, Quintessence (Voltron), Sincline Mech, Slow Burn, Telepathy, Twenty Years Later, dark themes, extremely overprotective/controlling parents, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-09-28 18:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17188412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoShimmer/pseuds/EchoShimmer
Summary: SPOILER WARNING FOR VOLTRON S8 (just in case)20 years after Allura's sacrifice, the universe is still recovering. The paladins are scattered around the universe working to protect the fragile peace they have created, doing their best to keep Allura's will alive, or even just get by in their day to day life.But when a Blade's scout ship encounters what appears to be Lotor's Sincline Mech emerging from out of nowhere, the Paladins instantly know that something is wrong.And when the lions reappear to the next generation of Defenders of the Universe, the paladins are forced to step up and train their successors to fight before the situation spirals further out of control.





	1. 20 Years Later

**Author's Note:**

> In an uninhabited quadrant of the universe, a ghost from Voltron's past returns.

On the edges of the known universe sat a planet, long since abandoned or forgotten, truly little more than an asteroid. Once the planetary body may have supported life, but now this small part of the vast confines of space was left emptied, the small star lighting the system too weak to support life.

Then, for the first time in countless years, a spark of light washed the surface of the planet in blue as a wormhole opened before it, depositing a large scout ship from its midst before once again fading out of existence. Now the brightest light source came from the faint purple glow emitted from the Galra cruiser.

Once, years before, the sight of such a ship unannounced would only spell trouble, but a lot has changed in the past few years. The cruisers no longer are the floating fortresses of destruction that the Old Galra Empire made them into. Rather, this ship is instead overseen by Captain Balz, a young Nalquodi sent by the Blades of Marmora to investigate the abandoned planet in response to the strange energy fluctuations the scanners had picked up the previous cycle.

By all rights, the blue-skinned Officer could see no visible source for the supposed distress signal they had been sent to respond to, but the Captain had held his command for five deca-phoebs now, and stranger occurrences had happened. So as soon as the crew had settled from the wormhole jump, he ordered a full scan on the hunk of rock before them. Either it would quickly come up empty and they could get back to HQ early, or they would find some poor stranded saps with a wild story about what they were doing in the middle of nowhere to make the Blade’s travels worth it.

Within dobashes lights of the ship’s scanners shone down to the planet’s surface, and one of his techs stood from their station on the bridge to present the Captain with a tablet depicting the readings. No life signs, the Nalquodi noted with a sigh of relief. He wasn’t in the mood for a lecture on the proper preparation and safety required for long-distance traveling anyways. He went to hand the device back to the waiting engineer, but quickly snatched it back with a frown as his eye caught the results of the quintessence readings coming from the planet.

Planets like the one before him were normally little more than space debris, remnants of systems just waiting around to be recycled. As such, the quintessence- the life force- from such planets usually read as little to none.

But the scraggly chunk of rock they were currently scanning was reading unusually high levels of quintessence… and was it rising? As the Captain watched the readings ticked up another unit. Then another three. The number suddenly skyrocketed as the Captain’s head snapped upwards, just in time to witness the white light exploded out from the planets core, sending chunks of rock flying in every direction, easily stopped by the ship’s shields.

Squinting into the light, the shocked crew could make out only the outline of a humanoid ship, half the size of the relatively small scouting vessel that sat before it. As the burst of illumination faded, the machine could be seen more clearly, accents on the chest and face of the figure glowing unnaturally bright, purple-tinged blades of duller energy protruding from its hands.

Captain Balz knew instantly that this was not something his crew would be fit to handle alone.

“Open a line to HQ, and start transmitting scan data now!” the Nalquodi barked out as the mysterious craft twitched to life, head slowly turning to lock on to the Blade’s ship.

The video transmission popped to life just as the enemy’s swords began to glow with ominous intensity. The scarred face of the Blade’s General appeared before Balz, his dark hair pulled back tightly. Balz wasted no time on proper introduction as the ship before them crossed its blades shifted as if to prepare to ignite thrusters.

 “Scouting Vessel 3-A-7-5 reporting visual of unidentified, humanoid craft exhibiting high levels of quintessence. We are transmitting scan results now.”

As the Captain spoke, he was aware vaguely of the crew around him furiously working to pull up the ship’s defenses, the particle barrier rose just as the attacking craft’s thrusters ignited and it shot forward.

“Craft is extremely hostile, we will be forced to engage.”

_Bang_. **_Bang_**. The pulsing swords struck against the pitifully weak barrier, cracks in the grid growing with each collision as the ship shuddered. This was supposed to be a simple rescue mission; the ship could never survive this level of combat. Captain Balz locked eyes with the High Commander’s projection before him, praying that the data they were currently transmitting would be enough for the Blades to find answers from.

“Avenge us,” the Captain finished resolutely, eyes sliding over the projection as a third hit to the particle barrier shattered their defenses. All the crew members could do was stare down at the glowing purple blade as it descended towards the bridge.

A flash of light. Then, only darkness.

Keith Kogane flinched back involuntarily as the transmission suddenly flashed before disappearing as the connection was terminated. The Blade soldiers around him were silent with shock as their leader cursed internally, quickly accessing the files that the ship had just transferred to Headquarters, searching for a glimpse of the attacker.

The first few images he flipped through were unclear, indistinct, either oversaturated with light or taken through the grid of the particle barrier. The final image was the one where the former paladin stopped, intensely analyzing the blurred image taken just as the craft tore through the barrier.

This time, Keith cursed out loud.

“Lieutenant Wapa, transmit all received data to the Galactic Coalition servers, and send a message to Earth and New Altea. Level four emergency, rendezvous at the Garrison’s Headquarters ASAP. Captain Maxyid, prepare a ship and crew for launch. We depart in six vargas at the latest.”

“Yes, sir!” the two officers echoed back, and they hurried off to execute his orders with no further prompting. No one doubted the seriousness of the situation before them.

Turning back to the screen, Keith stared one last time at the rendition of an almost literal ghost from the past: Prince Lotor’s Sincline Mech, which was assumed to have been destroyed in the Battle of Oriande. Yet, here it was over 20 years later, tearing down one of the Blades scout ships in a practically nonexistent system.

_Prepare now, figure out the logistics later_ Keith scolded himself, shutting off the holoscreen and storming from the central command room. _The others will have better ideas than I do._

~~~

Unknown to the preparing lifeforms, far off into the galaxy, five powerful machines whirred to life. Eyes flickering with light, the Lions of Voltron rose to their paws and took off into space for the first time in nearly 19 years.


	2. Black and Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team begins to reassemble on Earth. Meanwhile the lions begin to select their new paladins.

Junior Lieutenant Randoc stood waiting impatiently by the boarding ramp into the transport ship, lined up beside his fellow Blade officers and officers in training to depart for Earth as soon as the General arrived. Having only held his rank for a phoeb, Randoc was excited to be part of the group traveling with their famous ex-paladin leader. _If only he could get here a bit faster…_

Trying to distract himself from fidgeting and drawing the stern glare of his overseeing officer Lieutenant Wapa, the young Galra let his mind wander, allowing himself to momentarily picture what his family was doing right now back home on New Daibazal.

The oldest of his siblings, Atria, would likely be attending her classes right now. Father would most definitely have already left the apartment to resume his work as a handyman, one of many freelance laborer’s working to rebuild New Daibazal to its former glory ever since the Restoration almost 20 years prior. Mother would be waking and dressing little Dalxon and Halrik before depositing them at the neighbor’s before heading off to her own job as a secretary.

Though Randoc was sad about all the family moments he missed out here at the Blade of Marmora HQ, he was painfully aware of the need for the money that having a job provided. Randoc had worked hard to gain an entry level officer role so early in his Blades career, and he couldn’t give up now. Even if that meant waiting around 15 dobashes for the man in charge to arrive so they could depart.

_Finally,_ the door to the hanger slid open to reveal the General, and all the waiting officers stood up just a little bit straighter in response as the ex-paladin walked purposefully towards them. Not that anyone had ever heard of the General being overly strict over such presentations, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

The half-Galra was roughly halfway across the bay when the proximity alarm sounded, announcing an unidentified ship had entered the area surrounding the Blade’s station orbiting an uninhabited planet only a system over from New Daibazal. Due to their intentional isolation, it was rare for a craft to drift into the system as is, let alone one that wouldn’t answer initial attempts at communication. All the workers in the hanger jumped at the noise, eyeing the orange emergency lights.

In the center of it all, Keith paused, a strange feeling washing over him. One of the tech’s from the control room sounded urgently over the station’s speakers.

“Orange alert. Unidentified craft has entered Headquarters airspace. Current path estimates arrival at the hanger in 20 ticks. Prepare for possible hostile.”

Around Randoc, chaos erupted in the hanger as everyone darted towards the safety of the walls, pulling blades and blasters out to prepare for the suspected attack. In the near center of the room, Keith stayed still, calmly drawing his own luxite blade and facing the hanger opening. All the sounds of preparation cut into silence.

Randoc knows he should draw his blaster and join the others as they shift further back against the ship, but some stray thought, some instinct, holds him in place. This strange layer of calm acceptance is also what he assumes keeps him from stumbling backwards when a humongous black, white, and red craft skids into the hanger, resting directly in between Randoc and the General.

Swords and blasters raise at the sudden appearance before them, but as soon as Keith processes what has appeared, he calls out orders for everyone to stand down. Weapons lower as all the gathered Blades stare in awe at the machine before them, whispers carrying through the echoey room.

“Voltron… black lion… 19 years!... paladins?”

Keith is only aware of it at a subconscious level as he drinks in the sight of the lion posed lengthwise before him, still crouched from landing. A part of Keith’s mind searches longingly for the mental link to confirm the sight, but nothing is there. No connection between his and Black’s mind seemed to exist.

It isn’t until the lion turns, not towards Keith but away from him and towards the prepared travel ship and the line of Blade officers frozen there that the former paladin fully understands what’s happening.

Randoc continues to stand straight and tall as the comforting mental voice sends foreign yet reassuring messages through his mind as the great lion before him spins to face him, crouching down to open her mouth to admit her newest paladin.

-       -       -       -

Chance Milano sits impatiently in the Garrisons training bay, waiting for the training plane to land and call the next cadet forth for their maiden voyage in an actual ship. Other cadets were scattered around the bay, those who had already gone talking freely to their friends who still nervously waited for their turn.

The small friend groups gossiped excitedly, the usual conversations of complaining about certain instructors having been pushed aside by the arrival of the Blades of Marmora ship and their high-profile passengers three hours prior. The discussion taking place only meters from Chance was particularly boisterous.

“I heard that Keith Kogane’s son went on a journey and found the lions, and he brought the Black lion back with him when it chose him,” one of the nearby girls theorized excitedly.

“No way,” one of the boys said quickly. “For starters Kogane doesn’t have a son or anything like that, and I’m almost positive that he’s gay, so no biological kids. Second, my brother is an officer and he told me that the paladin was some pureblood Galra boy. He couldn’t ask where the lion came from, though. Kogane and the paladin closed themselves up in the Admiral’s office practically as soon as they arrived.”

“Are we even positive that the Galra guy is the paladin? What if he’s just some trusted officer accompanying Kogane, and the lion just returned to its previous pilot? That makes more sense to me.”

Chase sighed as she redirected her mind from the nearby conversation, pressing a palm to her face and leaning her head back to rest against the wall, eyes closing. _Why are teenagers so willing to be nosy and spout off unconfirmed information? Just wait for the official announcement like everyone else_ she grumbled to herself.

She perked up considerably as the quiet sound of the Nebula V, the Garrisons preferred training vessel, gliding into the hanger to (somewhat messily) land in the marked off area. The boy who had been piloting clambered out happily, the instructor exiting the gangway much more professionally before glancing down at her clipboard.

“Milano, Chance!” she called out firmly.

Chance rose to her feet before walking to the ship with carefully calculated speed, trying to appear nonchalant as nerves raced through her veins. She followed the instructor into the ship, doing her best to take in everything around her.

Despite her and the instructor both knowing that the ship had just flown perfectly well, Chance quickly ran through the pre-flight checklist, the instructor pointing out small corrections as they went. This was just a training exercise, after all. The pilot cadets in Chance’s had all just recently passed the simulator test that qualified them for actual flight practice, and this was their first flight. The tests all came back green, so Chance settled her slight nerves and followed the instructor’s directions to ease the ship off the ground.

As soon as they were solidly in the air, Chance’s nerves fell away into exhilaration as they soared in careful circles and twists over the Galaxy Garrison headquarters. Below them the earth fell away, soldiers shrinking to the size of ants as Chance was filled with an inexplicable sense of freedom and peace, a rare feeling for her.

She was jolted from her trance when a red warning dinged onto her navigation dashboard, startling the instructor, who leaned over to get a closer look at the notification. It was a proximity alarm sent out to active ships, warning of an unannounced ship drifted into Garrison airspace.

Chance knew that such an event being an accident is nearly unheard of, but some part of her knew that this was meant to be. The instructor squawked as Chance suddenly dipped their shift into a dive, aiming to land the ship down on the open space below as if a siren called to her, rushes of excitement over the flight once again spiking through her veins as a large shadow swooped over them.-    

  -      -       -       -

Shiro ran his flesh hand through his hair tiredly before looking back up to the Blade leader and the nervous young Galra beside him. Keith was looking at him anxiously, reminding Shiro of the young boy that the intergalactic figurehead had once been. But the Keith before him was obviously different, alluding a certain level of confidence in his role brought on by the experiences he had been through.

“This can’t be a coincidence Shiro, you know that as well as I. Practically everyone has responded a positive ID on the Sincline as being nearly identical to Lotor’s. We can’t just ignore that fact regardless of anything else. But then Black shows up mere hours later? The lions left 19 years ago because they were no longer needed to keep the universe safe. But if they’re returning now, we might have a bigger problem then we realize. I have multiple teams tracking where the Sincline is heading, but right now its movements seem erratic, unpredictable. I think we have to reassemble the team and act before the damage gets any worse.”

The Garrison Admiral nods in agreement, tapping his fingers against the desk rhythmically as he thought.

“I agree, we need everyone we can get who was a part of the original Sincline battle. With you here we have practically the whole team on planet, just missing Coran and Lance. Coran likely won’t be able to come himself, and Lance hasn’t been responding to communications ever since the… incident last year. But Coran should at least be able to track Lance down, so I’ll send him a message. Once we figure out the Sincline’s target we can start planning accordingly, but for now I think we can agree that there’s too much missing information to form a solid strategy. We’ll have to do what we can with what we have and protect as many innocent people as possible.”

Two faces flashed to Shiro’s mind, the urge to protect his family rising amid the thoughts of potential attacks on their planet. The civilians of Earth must be kept safe.

As if to taunt him, the proximity alarm chose that time to blare across the compound. Shiro quickly rose from his desk to turn and stare up at the quadrant that had been triggered. Garrison soldiers scattered across the open yard pointed upwards towards a training ship that was quickly coming in for landing, all the while being overtaken and looped by… was that the red lion?

Keith and the Galra boy joined Shiro to watch the two crafts smoothly land side by side in the open space. The training ship opened almost instantly a cadet pilot popped from the craft, the sunlight reflecting brightly off the orange uniform as the brown-haired girl jogged forward to press a hand to the nose of the crouching red-accented machine.

Shiro sighed, turning to grab his jacket and head down to the scene, patting Keith on the shoulder as he passed him. Sure enough, Voltron didn’t seem to be done with the universe yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's two lions down! What do you think of the story so far? It's still kind of in exposition and the chapters are on the shorter side, but things will begin to pick up soon, don't you worry!
> 
> Next chapter: Green and Yellow! What have the smallest and largest of the old paladins been up to? Stay tuned to find out!


	3. Green and Yellow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We catch up with the lives of Pidge and Hunk as the green and yellow lions make their entrance to their new paladins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is where we start getting into some darker themes. Warning for mentions of infertility/incompatibility and miscarriage.

Katie Holt growled quietly at the 3D model she had been staring at until her eyes burned. The images looked like the Sincline Mech, all the energy signatures that the Blade ship had managed to take matched what she remembered from the first encounter with the ship, and yet the former green paladin was loath to accept that the image before her was true. If this was indeed the Sincline, it meant that they had failed all those years ago, that the destruction of Oriande hadn’t been as complete as the team had thought from analyzing the simulations.

Pidge hated it when her simulations were wrong.

With a frustrated sigh Pidge pulled off the glasses, closing the 3D hologram and sitting dejectedly into her chair that allowed observation of the main lab. Up in the private workspace, she was alone, Matt having been the final one to head home nearly an hour earlier to check in with his family. But Pidge knew that her work was far from over.

News of the lions had spread quickly, first with Keith’s ship showing up carrying Black, and then the arrival of Red around three hours ago. Pidge had been careful to keep up to date on all the information running through the Coalition’s database, combing the numbers for answers, predictions on what would happen next. But everything seemed so random- the Sincline’s movements, the lion’s selection of seemingly random kids from various corners of the universe.

_Stupid magic lions_ she grumbled to herself, spinning to instead analyze the crowd of scientists working on the main floor below her office. The darker colors of the interns dotted the crowd, clearly visible amongst the lighter colors of the senior researchers.

The scientists Holt Tech employed ranged from advanced robotics to information systems to medicine, each subject area quartered off into personal workstations with workers moving between each area freely as the need arose. The white-coated department heads stood in the middle of it all, overseeing the projects of employees and keeping an eye on the intern’s self-lead lessons. It was a brilliant system that the Holt family had been working to perfect over the past few decades, and Pidge was proud to oversee a company that boasted such success.

The usual thoroughness of her employees made the lab one of the most progressive and safest in the world. This doesn’t mean they are without accident, however. Pidge is clearly reminded of this as she watches the puff of smoke rise from the GenTech portion of the lab.

It appeared to originate from one of the intern’s stations, an Olkari boy who Pidge remembered vividly as being extremely overexcited as he arrived with the wave of Intergalactic applicants Holt Tech had admitted almost a year prior. It surprised her that such an experienced student would make such a mistake. _Not that I can talk, really_ she mused with a smidge of chagrin. _We had to repaint the private lab last month for a reason._

The department head noted the accident quickly, Pidge saw approvingly, and she watched him purposefully make his way towards the intern who seemed to be frozen in shock. Pidge frowned, worried that the boy may have been hurt. _I guess I might as well check in over there on my way out._

But just as Pidge turned to exit the private lab, a flash of movement caught her attention as the Olkari boy suddenly turned to sprint for the exit. Pidge blinked in shock for a moment before bolting out of her lab and pausing at the top of the stairs, just in time to hear multiple outcries from the older scientists echo through the concrete room as the boy ducked through the crowd and threw the doors open.

To the surprise of everyone witnessing the event, the expected darkness that should have prevailed outside the building was awash with light. A mechanical hum echoed through the suddenly silent building as everyone fell silent, turning to glimpse the small shape of a young Olkari stopped just outside the door.

An understanding washed through Pidge at the first flash of green and white. _Stupid magic lions, indeed,_ she thought with a bit more amusement than before. She started forward again, with the new intention of having her first proper meeting with her successor before leaving for the night.

-       -       -

Olsyn stared up in awe at the masterpiece of machinery that sat before him, white and green and so much larger than he had ever imagined the lions of Voltron being. The mild pain in his hands from the earlier explosion paled in comparison when the importance of this moment washed over him.

The lion prodded at the Olkari’s mind curiously before stretching its head upwards, then plopping its hindquarters down to sit before him like a well-trained puppy (or, maybe more accurately, a boasting feline).

Olsyn marveled at the sentient machine’s smooth movement, its obvious grace and power the height of what technology can achieve. Nothing he had ever seen could match the majesty of King Alfor’s creation. _But it will,_ he told himself firmly. _One day I’ll create something just as great, something to reestablish the prowess that my ancestors once held in the universe._

The lion hummed happily at his determination. _My_ lion, he realized with a start, a pleased hum passing through the mental link again as the machine bent down, opening itself to him physically and mentally. Behind them, the growing crowd murmured in surprise at the sight of the famous lion.

For them, this signaled the end of an age of quiet peace, but for Olsyn, this was the beginning of his own journey. His lion seemed to agree.

-       -       -

Hunk stared at Shay in shocked silence as his partner seemed to fold into herself, a single sheet of paper clutched into her hand. _Genetic sequence invalid_ it read, clear as day. Those three words, so straightforward, but so impactful all the same. _We can’t have kids…_

The two of them had always known that this outcome was a possibility, with humans and balmerans being so different physically. For years they had never even discussed the possibility of starting a family, both having decided on their own that what they had now was enough. Why get their hopes up when the possibility was so unlikely?

But then Shay had become pregnant, just for long enough for the couple to realize how much they longed for this child. The miscarriage had been the first blow to their misplaced hope. Now they faced the final nail in the coffin, the focus of their dreams flushed out to space by the contents of a single sheet of paper.

Sucking in a deep breath in a vain attempt to steady the shaking in his limbs, Hunk half collapsed onto the bed, wrapping his arms around Shay’s shaking form tightly. The balmeran fell limp into the embrace, finally breaking into full blown sobs as the sorrow overtook her.

Hunk wanted to cry too. Crying was his release, Shay had comforted him countless times when everything he was struggling to achieve as a diplomat was breaking down and it felt that all he could do was sob his emotional turmoil into oblivion. He always felt better after crying.

This time was different, though. There was no overwhelming sadness, no tears leaking from his eyes like Hunk had always expected from himself when the universe threw him another curveball. Instead, the man just felt _empty_. The disappointing news and the sight of his usually strong partner breaking down so quickly had drained the former paladin of all feeling until he felt like a husk of himself, unsure of how to move forward.

So Hunk just leaned both of them back onto the bed, wrapping himself around the love of his life in a futile form of comfort as the two of them sank into a fitful sleep

 

 

Hours later, Hunk is woken by the ping of his communicator where he had discarded it carelessly on the desk the previous night. He squinted blearily at the clock across the room. 06:00, time to get up if he didn’t want to be late to the emergency meeting.

Hunk knew the problem at hand was important, but he had to admit that a small part of him longed to stay right where he was, meeting be damned. But then they would come knocking at his Garrison-assigned living quarters, and Shay would be upset for being the cause of him abandoning his duties, and Hunk couldn’t handle the thought of her more distress.

Suppressing a groan as to not wake Shay, the man carefully rose to retrieve the device that was still pinging urgently. He only had to glance at the notifications that filled the screen before he was suddenly wide awake, hurrying to slide on his uniform.

The yellow lion had appeared.

-       -       -

Deep below the crust of the Balmera, Vir followed his mother’s orders, placing utensils at the table as his older sister Uly gave the soup one last stir before lifting the pot to carry it to the table as well. It wasn’t every day that the oldest sibling, their brother Garn, got a day off from his engineering job to come and visit them. It always called for celebration when the whole family could reunite, an event Vir always looked forward to.

The family all gathered around hungerly, the five Balmerans filling their bowls and digging in to the long-awaited feast. For the first few minutes it was silent, then Vir’s father started quizzing Garn on what he was working on. Uly hung on to every word about what it was like on the surface, despite the fact that she could technically travel up there whenever she wasn’t busy. She had long hoped to work there as a dignitary, and she was working hard in school to prove earn the role.

Vir, despite his sisters gentle teasing, had no such aspirations. He was perfectly happy following his father’s example and living below the surface, preferring to scout the tunnels for deposits of crystals that formed in all manner of places, tending to them as they grew and distributing them to trusted customers. Unlike the oldest two of the family, Vir couldn’t see the appeal of the surface world, it was too open and bright and teeming with unfamiliar species. It was much better to stay where he was familiar.

Therefore, Vir was surprised to notice the sudden stray thought that floated through his mind, a suggestion to travel upwards. It took him a surprising amount of effort to refocus on the current conversation and push the trailing imagery of the surface away. _The hunger must be getting to me_ he thought decisively, taking another bite of the delicious soup.

But then there was that idea of the surface again, like a siren song calling him upwards, and… was the ground around him shaking? _No, no. Food now, weird ideas later_ Vir decided a bit more forcefully, trying unsuccessfully to shove the thoughts out of his mind, but it was like trying to dig out a crystal from a mud patch, any headway he made in emptying his mind of unwanted thoughts was instantly undone by another forceful tug, each seemingly stronger than the last.

This time, the rumble in the earth was accompanied by an echoing roar from the tunnel. The entire family’s heads snapped upwards at the unexpected noise. The sound is what finally did Vir in, his body dragging him up from his seat and out the door before he realized that he was moving, his family calling after him in confusion. He had no time to tell them that he was just as confused as they were over the sudden events unfolding on this formally ordinary evening.

Vir dodged around curious balmerans and stormed upwards in a daze, only realizing that he was rounding the final turn as another roar echoed into the tunnel. His mind suddenly clear, Vir had a moment of clarity to question what he was doing, why he was running _towards_ the unknown sounds rather than turning tail and getting as far down as possible.

But something was pulling him forward. Something was telling him that this had to happen. And Vir may be a scaredy-cat 99% of the time, but there was no way he could keep going without figuring out _why_ this was happening.

It was with that fragile resolve that Vir took the final steps out into the evening air. The ever-bright sunlight reflecting off the crystals that dotted the surface- and made clearly visible the hulking form of the yellow and light beast that was waiting for him.

It had to be the yellow lion, Vir knew deep down. But the machine was so _huge_ , looming above him with powerful limbs and thick paneling. The balmeran had considered himself an average height for his age but standing out in the open before the lion made him feel eight rather than 15.

At the same time, Vir felt perfectly safe as the lion settled down before him with what he translated as a satisfied grumble, the tug in his mind giving way to content imagery as if to calm the boy that the lion had summoned so suddenly.

Glancing with surprising confidence at the balmerans that had appeared to find the source of the disturbance, the boy realized that whatever the lion was doing was working. For the first time in Vir’s memory, he could stand on the surface without being afraid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Four lions returned, one to go! Who will be the one to claim Blue, and what has Lance been doing for the past few years? Next chapter, we travel to New Altea to meet the characters who I consider the center point of this story in Chapter 4- "The Blue Paladins"!
> 
> Starting with the next update, new chapters will be released on Monday mornings each week depending on how busy I get. I've been working hard to get a comfortable buffer of chapters, but there may be times where I have to skip a week or update late. Feel free to yell at me in the comments if this is ever the case. Hopefully I will be able to warn ahead of time when delay is inevitable, but if I miss a week unannounced have no worry, an update will come eventually. I have also settled on a estimated length of 16 chapters, and depending on where we are at the end there is a possibility of a sequel. So stay tuned, my lovely readers!


	4. The Blue Paladins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance, who is still grieving on New Altea, is approached by Coran regarding the current events. The blue lion chooses its paladin, creating an unexpected barrier to reassemble the Paladins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I warned you chapters would get longer. The plot slowly picks up from here. Minor warning for... i don't know, extremely overprotective parenting bordering on abusive? But not like physical or mental assault on a kid, kind of... magic based. It's nothing too bad, I just figure I'd rather be on the safe side, you know?
> 
> Enjoy!

Lance wiped the sweat from his brow, throwing down his tools to straighten his back and look out over the expanse of Juniberries that coated the fields of New Altea. Even after nearly 16 years of living here, the beauty of it always astounded the former paladin.

He gazed over his fields, focusing on the figures of the Alteans he employed to help tend to his plants rather than the ache in his chest when he saw the blossoms. Or thought of the family he left so suddenly back on Earth. Or the battle that took place only a month and a half shy of 20 years ago. Especially that one. It was still painful to be reminded of her.

Yet here he was, surrounded by fields of flowers in bloom, and Lance could almost imagine that Allura was still here. But the constant stream of sympathetic looks back at home had been draining all too quickly, and Lance had found quickly that by working himself to the edge of endurance each day he had little opportunity to sink into the cycle of depression that was his thoughts.

So here he was. On New Altea. Farming away his sorrows. Besides, he looked like one of them now thanks to the marks decorating his cheeks. Because of Allura.

The boy frowned at the sun hanging high in the sky and sighed, reaching down to grasp the scythe once again. This was far too much reflection for this early in the day, and the crops wouldn’t harvest themselves. Time to get back to work.

As Lance lifted the tool to his shoulder, the communicator on his wrist dinged with an incoming message from the Galactic Coilition servers. All the communications had been going crazy the last few days. Lance just tiredly dismissed the message, watching as it joined the growing inbox of unread communications.

The Celebration of Allura gathering was still a month and a half away, after all. If whatever this was applied to him, they’d message him directly like they always did, and then he could consider responding. Sometimes these people didn’t seem to get the idea of Lance being retired from saving the galaxy.

So the man shrugged it off and continued working.

 

 

Seven vargas later, the sun was threatening to shade them in darkness and the workers scattered around Lance began to call it a day, turning towards the shacks scattered around the edges of the fields. The former paladin followed tiredly, waving to acknowledge a couple of the the children who called out to him excitedly. Their parents all worked with him out in the fields, and a couple of the kids knew him from his rarely-acknowledged mantle as a guest-speaker in their history lessons in the city.

_Don’t look at me like that_ , Lances mind longed to cry back at them. _I’m not worth looking up to. Not after I failed, not after I left them. I’m not the hero you think I am. I’m just a broken man running away from his responsibilities._

His inner monologue broke as he met the eyes of one of the young Alteans he spoke to rather regularly due to the fact that their houses were so close. Klyton, an intelligent yet often sickly girl. She looked at him with skin-crawling intensity as if reading his thoughts through his eyes before giving a slight shake of her head, quietly calling goodnight, and scampering off to where her parents called her inside.

Lance smiled weakly after the family before letting his forced expression drop, turning his feet to his own dwelling.

He was only half surprised, after spending the day ignoring the incessant dinging of his communicator, to see Coran waiting for him on his small porch. The older Altean had taken over leadership of New Altea shortly after the final battle, pushing aside his grief to establish himself their Regent (for he refused to claim himself a King) and lead the remnants of Altea to rebuild what was lost 10,000 years ago.

Lance admired the man’s effort to rebuild, and occasionally even offered assistance at big events, but he could never find it in himself to commit fully to the efforts. What he had lost could never be restored.

The fact that Coran himself was here now rather than a messenger likely meant that whatever was happening was important. So Lance paused before the doorway, turning slightly to face the older man. Inclining his head in a slightly mocking fashion, the former paladin acknowledged his visitor.

“Regent Coran. To what do I owe the honor?”

Coran chose to ignore Lance’s attempts to rile him up, in fact he had expected the less-than-warm welcome. He rose from where he leaned on the railing, stepping forward so that the light fell across his face, ignoring the human’s slight wince of discomfort at the sudden movement.

“I take it you haven’t heard the news,” Coran said, knowing perfectly well that Lance hadn’t read any of the messages he’d received for almost a year now.

“The lions are returning and selecting new paladins. Lotor’s Sincline Mech has emerged and is wreaking havoc throughout the universe. The team is reassembling on Earth, the old Paladins to train the new. And that team includes you, my boy.”

Lance sucked in a breath, surprised.

“Have… have all the lions come back?”

“All except the blue lion so far, but it’s only a matter of time.”

“Blue…” Lance trailed off, lost in memories. Coran stayed silent, letting the poor boy process all the new information.

Lances mouth opened, then closed again, emotions flashing across his face at lightspeed. Coran could practically hear the boy’s mind at war with itself. He let the boy come to his own decision in silence.

Coran understood the former paladins struggle, he really did. The two of them had been the members of the team closest to Allura. After the war, Coran had thrown himself into his work to battle the grief by carrying on Allura’s will to rebuild Altea in her absence.

But Lance… Lance had nothing. No Altea, no Galaxy Garrison, no technology or humanitarian aid. He couldn’t find something to commit to, not like the others had. Even the boy’s much-loved family was enough for him to heal by. They were unable to understand everything Lance had gone through.

War changes a person, and sometimes the damage is below the surface. The team hadn’t been able to see through the mask that Lance had kept up for so long. They couldn’t understand why he moved to New Altea, why he spent so much time working himself to the bone in the fields. They teased him, tried to push him to find something _better_ , not knowing the further damage they were inflicting as Lance fell into some perversion of an identity crisis.

Then last year he had snapped. The mask shattered, the pain he had locked up pouring forth like a wave, leaving the others breathless in his wake as the man they thought they knew fell into pieces.

Thus, Coran was left with this, the broken shell of the once optimistic boy before him.

After a few minutes of silence, Lance finally spoke.

“I… I’m not sure… I can’t-” he cut off suddenly as a faint light illuminated the dusk. Lance’s cheekmarks. The human touched the glowing crescents, his mind quickly thrown off course as the marks reacted to an unknown shift in the energy in the area.

“Blue…” he whispered, and sure enough the sound of thrusters echoed across the plains as the blue lion toughed down amid the Juniberries.

A commotion emerged from a nearby house as a young girl threw the door open with a blast of energy, eyes, cheeks, and palms alight with violet under the power of the Chosen.

The Regent squinted at the girl through the gloom, confused as to why he didn’t recognize such an obviously gifted child. He tried to keep tabs on all the children who emerged with powerful abilities, fearful that they would be exploited like the prior generation had been. When he glanced again towards the girl’s dwelling and saw the fear in her parent’s eyes, he understood.

_They’re one of the ones too afraid to register their Chosen child for the special training courses to temper their powers, afraid of what happened to them in previous generations. It’s amazing that they kept her hidden for so long with how strong her abilities are. Staying untrained when you’re that powerful is dangerous for the safety of everyone involved, curse them. Not that it matters now, I suppose._

Coran turned back to the girl as she calmed, short-cropped silver hair settling down as she relaxed from her power outburst, settling one palm lightly on the lion’s paw as it tipped its head down to slightly as if to shelter her.

Coran smiled at the familiar sight of the blue lion, turning back to Lance before the smile quickly faded at the sight of the boy. His limbs were locked up with tension and shaking slightly, cheekmarks dimming as the initial shock of the lion’s appearance faded away and the familiarity of the sight sank in.

The former paladin jolted suddenly, glazed eyes turning to lock with Coran’s for only a moment before he violently turned around and slipped into his house. The door slammed closed before Coran could think of something to say as comfort. _Quiznack._

The Altean looked at the closed door for a moment, wavering, before turning away with a sigh. He made a mental note to contact the team on Earth for assistance in talking with the troubled human. Keith would be best, he decided with a nod decisive mental nod.

Decision made, Coran marched across the small stretch of land to where the girl’s parents stood, still frozen and obviously terrified that their daughter had just revealed her secret so spectacularly. They had some explaining to do.

-       -       -

Klyton faded back into awareness as she stared up at the majestic lion that had called to her. She could feel the machine’s emotions even more intimately than she had ever felt another’s, the lion’s thoughts came to her with no effort of focus. They just _existed_ to be shared with her, not an intrusion but a partnership.

She could feel the lions will, as complete and intricate as any living beings, more alive than any other machine has ever been or ever will be. She could feel its… _her_ … intentions. Intentions to protect, to be free to travel the universe, to be reunited with her team. All this through disorienting series of images that passed through the link in their mind at dizzying speeds.

If Klyton hadn’t been so used to constantly feeling the emotions of others the sudden openness of the connection that was created without her conscious effort would have been nauseating, but as it was it was an unexpected comfort. This is what you’ve been waiting for all these years, it seemed to say. The lion, Blue, was her way to freedom after sixteen years of being hidden away.

But as Klyton turned, her abilities finally recalibrating after such a strong outburst to once again tune in to her surroundings, she was hit with a wave of unrestrained emotion so contrary to her own that the whiplash of it made her nauseous as her body tried to cope with the sudden redirection. Strong emotions were always hard to deal with in large quantities, they made it so difficult to feel herself amid the sea of noise that constantly surrounded her. Suddenly, her elation was slammed to the ground by the waves of confusion, shock, even a bit of fear that were pouring out from her neighbors. It was overwhelming to say the least.

She could scan the faces, focusing in slightly on each of the witnesses to her sudden show of power when they had only ever seen the quiet, sickly girl her parents had carefully crafted her to be. _Chosen…_ she could see them thinking, even without focusing enough to read their thoughts. They were unsure of what had occurred, and an overemotional crowd always meant a dangerous crowd for an untrained Empath like Klyton. She leaned heavily into Blue, using the stronger and much steadier connection to ground herself amid all the noise.

It was only once she settled herself a bit that Klyton was able to feel another emotion emanating from a single spot amid the crowd of Alteans: anger. The girl was quickly drawn to the sight of the emerging confrontation, Blue humming in her mind as her eyes fell to her parents still standing in the doorway of their house. They faced a ginger-haired man that the young Altean had only ever seen from a distance, but that mustache was unmistakably belonging to Regent Coran. A slight dip into the strange, old-timey cadence of his mind gave the final confirmation of the man’s identity.

The Regent’s emotions were unique amid the crowd. He was confused, yes, but unlike everyone else his confusion was tinged with a level of frustration that seemed directed at her parents. Coran was trying to explain something to them and based on the fearful anger her parents were emitting at near migraine-inducing levels even from half the field away, the conversation wasn’t going anywhere.

The reality of the situation hit Klyton at as she watched her father puff up angerly, and her mother spun around to stomp towards their wayward daughter that still clung to a lion of Voltron. _They’re not going to let me leave. The perfect opportunity to use my abilities for the good of the universe, and my parents are still trying to hide me away._

Blue keened in Klyton’s head as the girl was dragged roughly back towards her house. The Altean made a strained effort to focus past the swell of emotion that rose once the physical connection to the lion was lost, sending Blue a quick word of comfort before she was pulled across the threshold and her parents were hurriedly closing the door. To their frustration, she noted with a touch of glee, Regent Coran followed the small family inside.

The ancient Altean huffed, obviously tired from trying to reason with Klyton’s parents. He instead turned to the girl, eyeing her with unexpected kindness where she had been pushed onto the couch in the small living room.

“You are Klyton, correct? I don’t believe I’ve had the honor to speak with you before now, but you are obviously a very talented girl to have attracted the attention of the blue lion. Tell me about yourself. And your abilities? It’s not everyday I meet such a powerful Chosen who has managed to stay under the radar for so long.”

Klyton sank into the couch a bit as her parents withering stares burned into her, warning her to proceed with caution. Any sense of rebellious bravery the lion had ignited had been quickly blown out once she crossed the threshold into the house, leaving her scrambling with how best to proceed.

But the older Altean waited patiently as she collected her thoughts, emitting a warm kindness towards the child despite his frustration at the situation, offsetting the rolls of resentment her parents seemed to be trying to flood the room with. Klyton leaned on the calming emotion as she started to speak.

“Um… I’m sixteen. Mostly homeschooled since I’m often… ill… so I’ve spent most of my life here on the farm. I’ve been able to feel emotions of people for as long as I can remember, basically. An Empath, I think it’s called. And as I got older, I found I could channel that power into other things with some effort, surface-level telepathy and if I really push it energy manipulation. But it’s still hard for me to control that, its overwhelming. So most of the time I lock up that stuff. Dealing with everyone’s emotions is hard enough as it is.”

Coran smiled at her cautious explanation.

“A very powerful girl indeed, very good. But such powers are often very unstable, am I wrong? Mental types often struggle to limit input without careful oversight and training, in fact it can be very dangerous to be subjected to that much emotion. If you tried it in the city, I’d imagine it could have driven you mad, it’s a miracle you’re as well adjusted as you seem to be. It’s easy to lose yourself in all the distractions, no? Very dangerous when paired with energy-based abilities that often are triggered by sudden shifts in emotion like you would be subject to.”

The Regent turned slightly, angling himself to include her now smoldering parents in the conversation.

“So how, I wonder, have you managed to keep such careful control for all these years, huh? Is one of your parents an Unregistered as well?”

“No…” her father said gruffly, “But my sister was mental-based, so I am aware of how dangerous it is to be Chosen. Unlike all your pets up in the city, she didn’t manage to slip through notice to go to the second colony.”

Klyton was used to her father’s flat tone of voice as he talked about their family’s ties with the colony, but the older ginger haired man winced at the implication.

“I am sorry to hear that, truly. What happened to the colony Alteans was a tragedy that I am working endlessly to avoid. But you still haven’t told me how you’re managing your daughter’s abilities.”

“It’s not hard,” Klyton’s mother spoke up airily. “Keep her out of the schools, away from large crowds. When it gets bad, she stays in the house for more careful attention.”

Klyton shifted unconsciously, drawing Coran’s attention.

“Do you have something to add, child?” He urged her. The girl collapsed inwards at her sudden return to the center of attention but complied shakily.

“It’s… hard. The animals are a bit easier to handle, I like helping over there when I can. People are so complex, its almost impossible to filter their emotions out completely. I’ve found that physical contact can strengthen a connection, so I’ll usually end up edging towards calmer people in a conversation as a means to ground myself. Its too much sometimes. I get nausea and migraines a lot. And some days it will unexplainably get worse. Sometimes I can feel the energy thrumming under my skin, the instability pushing it to crackle from my fingertips. The only way to prevent it is with the energy-absorbing bands my parents found…”

Her sudden resolve faded as the Regent went rigid, pressing a hand tiredly to his face where his blue markings stood prominently from his paled skin.

“You guys managed to get a hold of one of those old-fashioned training bands that were recalled years ago. I know they were in use in the colony but look at what it’s doing to Klyton! Those _leeches_ do infinitely more harm to the user than they could ever help to help limit excessive energy. This way isn’t healthy.”

“Don’t come into out home and tell us how to raise our daughter,” Klyton’s father growled vehemently. “We are doing nothing illegal here. You have no right to barge in and attempt to intervene, Regent.”

Klyton’s head spun at the rise in tension, curling up to block out the potent emotions. Blue sent a wave of comfort though the muted mental link. Klyton distractedly realized that the imagery was of the ocean, remembering Lance’s quiet descriptions of Earth from the days where his depression was at a peak and the young Altean did her best to pull him out. Blue seemed happy about the small gesture.

Around Klyton, the conversation had continued to escalate.

“Look, Klyton just got chosen by the blue lion. She’s a paladin now, that’s not something you can undo. You have to let her go, it’s her destiny.”

“Ha, like we’d just send our precious daughter off to face the evils of the universe with little to no protection.”

“She won’t be unprotected. All the other paladins, old and new, are gathering on Earth. They’re going to get the best training and protection the universe has to offer. Even Lance will be there, you must know him well enough to trust him a bit.”

“Ha,” her mother’s distain was obvious. “That human may be a former paladin, but he is in no mental state to protect our daughter. He hides it well, but when you’re living with a young Empath its hard to keep quiet,” Klyton winced at the reminder of her childhood blunders, before she fully realized what an intimate view she had of those around her. _Poor Lance… he’s so kind, really. I would trust him more than almost anyone, but my parents…_

“We got a good understanding of our employer when she was too young to have a verbal filter, and from what I can tell he’s no better now. His past sacrifices were honorable, but we have no faith that he can help anyone now.”

The adults were at a stalemate, and Coran could feel it. Klyton sadly followed his emotions as his helpless frustration grew, unsure of how to proceed. She could almost _hear_ the moment his courage failed him before the iron will of her parents. He was being forced to back down. The Regent turned one last time to the girl, resolve not yet smothered from his eyes.

“Don’t worry, kid. I’ll contact some people, call in some favors. No one is going to leave you like this, Paladin or no. Just hang out for a day or to, we’ll come up with something.” Klyton wanted to believe the man’s promises, she wanted to clutch on to the small moments where Lance had been her sole spot of sanity, so sad and yet so caring. She tried to focus on that so hard and yet-

“Get OUT!” her father finally roared, and Klyton’s head finally exploded with pain as she struggled to adjust to the outpour of anger. “Get out of our house! Don’t come back again either. We aren’t letting Klyton out of our guardianship, so don’t even bother.”

“Now boys…” her mother cautioned, trying to ease the tension with a slightly concerned glance towards the girl curled into the couch. But the Regent had already spun around and strode stiffly out the door, accepting the temporary retreat. The house seemed to shake as the door slammed behind him.

For the second time that night, Coran found himself at a momentary loss of how to proceed. He turned back to face the house, where the windows were already dimming for the night. He noted with some amusement that the lion had moved, parking itself behind the house where he assumed the girl’s room was before falling into standby mode with its particle barrier up. The two had already bonded strongly it seemed.

The obvious depth of the new blue Paladins connection is what finally caused Coran to act, striding off towards where he parked his transport while fiddling with his communicator in order to find the right contact. The small projection formed as Coran sat down in the transport with a huff of tiredness.

“Hello, Shiro? Yeah, it’s me. Yeah, Lance didn’t react the best, but we have bigger problems now. Do you think you could send Keith over? He’s good at getting stubborn people to give. We have a bit of a situation regarding the Paladin of the blue lion…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we've now met all of our paladins, both former and current. What do you guys think, any favorites emerging? While I'm going to do my best to rotate between all ten characters perspectives, it will likely end up skewed towards the blue and red associated paladins. Who else would you like to see more of?
> 
> Next week: Keith and Lance talk for the first time in nearly a year, and Lance makes a critical decision in Chapter 5: "Lance's Decision".


	5. Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance have a much needed talk, and a plan is formed to deal with Klyton's situation.

Keith looked across the expanse of juniberries that dotted the fields of New Altea. How he got to this instant of time, standing in what appeared to be the Altean equivalent of the middle of nowhere, standing before one of the smattering of houses that dotted this section of the field, the Blade wasn’t exactly sure. Coran had called in an emergency, mentioned that it had to do with Lance, and now here Keith was about to barge unannounced into his former teammates surprisingly cozy-looking farmhouse.

God was Keith predictable. At least if he lived through the confrontation with the former blue paladin there was the potential for a different, more violent form of confrontation afterword’s. Keith was looking forward to that part a lot more.

Sucking up his irrational nerves with a bit of self-motivation ( _come on Keith it’s just a conversation, don’t be a baby about it_ ), Keith took the few steps forward to reach the small porch and knocked on the door.

For a moment, only silence from inside. Then a heavy thud, and the sound of light footsteps as the lock clicked open. The voice that quickly appeared was frustrated and tired, the man behind it already speaking as he yanked the door open.

“Look, I already told you all, I don’t know what’s-,” Lance paused, irritated expression freezing as he processed who was at his door. “Keith. You’re… here. At my house.”

Lance was blinking in surprise, allowing Keith a moment to stop and assess the man standing before him. A year could really change a person. Lance seemed a little older than Keith remembered, a little more worn down than he had been before, like he had stopped trying to hide how unraveled he was after the disaster of the last Paladin get-together. His face seemed a bit gaunter, skin a little tighter and paler, his cheekmarks standing out a bit more starkly than normal. He was only half dressed, hair uncombed, as if he had made no effort towards his appearance that morning.

“Lance. It’s been a long time. May I… come in? I think we need to talk.”

The disheveled boy didn’t move for a moment, unsure how to proceed. The tension in the air between the two was palpable, too many things left unsaid after their last meeting face to face. After a pregnant pause where neither man spoke, Lance turned slightly into the house. An invitation. Keith took the nonverbal allowance with a nod, stepping into the small living room cautiously.

The inside of Lance’s house was a surprise. The outside had been plain, ordinary, with no special flair to showcase its inhabitants style preferences. The inside was different, though, the wood walls ordained with a slight pattern of shapes only noticeable when you looked hard enough. A tapestry on the wall and pillows on the white couch lit the room with splashes of color. Black, green, yellow, red, and blue, all the colors of Voltron were present, with blue being the most common.

Keith’s stomach tightened slightly as he noted the occasional splash of pink in the mix, his eyes flashing automatically to Lance standing by the now closed door. His expression was still carefully blank.

This version of Lance was unnaturally still, Keith decided as he watched the boy shuffle to the couch, shoulders hunched. The Lance Keith remembered was always joyous, always cracking jokes and smiling. This Lance was quiet, uncertain, balanced on a blades edge. It made Keith uneasy to realize that he didn’t know how best to proceed.

Had this version of the blue paladin always been lurking underneath the surface? Sure, there were moments in the past where Lance had shown his insecurities, but that felt fundamentally different. This Lance was new, a Lance wrought from pain, forged from the loss of his first true love. A sacrifice that he was constantly reminded of wherever he went, even just looking in the mirror. This Lance was just the shattered remains of his previous self.

Keith wanted his old Lance back.

“I know why you’re here,” Lance said suddenly, Keith starting at the sudden sound. “Coran told me all about the lions and the Sincline Mech. You guys want to reassemble the team, train the new kids. Like Klyton.”

Lance paused as he uttered the Altean paladin’s name, as if processing what he had just said.

“But I won’t be of any use to you. How can I save the universe again when I can barely function day to day, huh? I’m just a farmer, always have been, always will be. So you can move along, take Klyton and Blue and be on your way.”

Keith sighed at the predictable response.

“That’s not true, Lance, we do need you. We need our sharpshooter, I need my right-hand man. You’re just as much of a Paladin as we are, from what Coran says the kids here really look up to you, the paladin girl included. You’re their hero, Lance.”

“That’s the problem!” Lance snaps suddenly, hands clenched. “They all see me as this great hero. You guys all see me as this outgoing, jokester of a sharpshooter. But that’s not who I am anymore, _I_ don’t even know who I am anymore!”

Lance was gasping, holding back tears as his feelings poured out desperately towards the only figure who he knew would listen to them. Keith longed to comfort him somehow, this boy he had once started to love. He admitted it to himself now, that he had once had feelings for Lance, and still kind of did despite all the time apart.

But Keith restrained himself for now. Lance didn’t want Keith to love him. Not now, maybe not ever. Lance needed time to heal. The thought didn’t keep Keith immune to the sight of the former paladin breaking apart in front of him.

“ _No one_ understands what it’s like to be me. I’ve always felt like I was in everyone’s shadow, like no one noticed what I was doing. And then Allura noticed, Allura acknowledged me for who I was, an actual person with potential, who could lead if given the chance. And then… and then…” The tears flowed freely now, Lance having been forced to give in under the swell of emotion.

“You guys are so strong, so sure of yourselves in a way I never have been. You don’t understand the pain of having the one person you could completely open up to ripped away before your eyes. I’m not strong enough to withstand that.”

Keith broke at that, stumbling forward to collapse beside the crying boy on the couch, hastily wrapping his arms around the quivering former paladin as tears fought to form in his own eyes.

“Shit, Lance. You think it’s been easy for us? You think we don’t acknowledge how important you are? We need you, Lance,” _I need you…_ he left unsaid. “You hold the team together, without you everything has been a mess. We’ve hardly talked to each other all year. And Lance.”

Keith paused, waiting for the boy to look at him.

“We do understand. More than you probably realize. I think we all isolated ourselves over the years, grieving and coping in our own way. We didn’t realize how that isolation was affecting you. You’ve always been one to seek comfort from people you trust to heal, and yet after everything that happened, we weren’t there for you. I’m sorry none of us realized it sooner, Lance.”

The brown-haired boy was leaning into Keith, full blown sobs dissolving into teary hiccups.

“It was so hard,” he admitted quietly. “I’ve felt myself slipping for a while now, especially ever since the last time I saw you guys. And then Blue showing up out of nowhere, and Klyton being the pilot. I never realized now like Allura she was, like me too, I guess. Sensitive to people’s emotions, always wanting to help even when she’s obviously unwell. She’s helped me more than I’d like to admit.”

Lance shifted slightly, Keith giving the other comforting squeeze before laxing his arms to accommodate the movement.

“Seeing her with Blue was the final straw, I guess. Knowing that another generation of kids is about to be dragged unsuspectingly into battle, with no guarantee that they’ll all make it out. It scares me, especially that it might be her. Her powers… gosh, I could feel the energy she was letting off, with these…” he ran a hand carefully across his cheeks, across the marks that sat there. “I could feel the power, the instability of it as well. And I’m so scared for her…”

Keith, remembering why he had ended up hear in the first place, saw his opening and took it.

“Then come with us. You can help us protect them, help us train them. We’re all having the same reservations right now, so we’ve all committed to seeing the next generation of Paladins through it. You’re the only one besides me who’s flown two lions, and the only one who’s been in Blue. You have the broadest range of fighting ability, the most awareness of what’s on the line if we fail. And from what I hear you’re the only one out of us five who can help Klyton with her abilities. We need _you_ , Lance. We all do.”

A beat of silence. Lance sucked in a deep breath before leaning away from Keith and gently breaking out of their embrace so that the two could properly look at each other.

“Okay.”

“Okay? You’ll do it?”

“I have to try, at least. I owe Klyton that for not realizing what she was going through with her parents sooner. I actually read the communications for once. Shocker, I know. They sound crazy overprotective. She doesn’t deserve that. I know how much she’s always wanted to travel, but I assumed they just held her back because she was sick. Not because she was Chosen.”

Lance gave a decisive nod and stood, reaching over to pull Keith up with him. The gaunt looking former paladin was much stronger than he appeared.

“I’ll come with you to talk to them, scope out the situation. We can play it by ear from there.”

Keith smiled at the familiar sparkle of determination in Lance’s eyes. _There he is. There’s the Lance I know._ The Blade General waited patiently as Lance disappeared into his room, the sounds of running water and opening doors floating through the walls. Lance reemerged looking startlingly like his old self considering the state he had been in only a few minutes prior.

With one last wipe of his eyes to ensure that he looked every bit the Blade of Marmora General that he was, Keith followed Lance out the door to face his next challenge.

-       -       -

Lance knocked on the door of Arina’s, Salin’s, and Klyton’s home, straightening his shoulders when he heard the approaching footsteps. Salin opened the door, his broad shoulders filling the entryway as he eyed his visitors.

“I knew you’d come soon enough,” he grunted. Behind him his wife, Arina, appeared from the hallway, looking out cautiously.

“We come in peace,” Lance said smoothly, putting his hands up placatingly. “We just need to talk to Klyton for a bit. There’s some stuff she needs to know about being bonded to a lion, that’s all.”

Salin frowned, looking from Lance’s easygoing smirk to behind Lance, where Keith stood with his arms crossed, still in his Blade armor but trying to look as unintimidating as he could manage. For a moment Lance thought Salin would try to refuse, but he only sighed and ushered them in.

The Altean closed the door with a bit more force than strictly necessary before leading the pair of former Paladin’s down the hallway. Arina had disappeared, likely to check on Klyton before they arrived. Keith leaned slightly towards Lance as soon as Salin’s back was turned.

“How the hell are you so good at acting?” he whispered. “This guy seems like a total prick, but your smile was so natural.”

“Lots of practice I guess,” Lance shrugged, leaving Keith to frown at the admission as both humans followed the Altean into one of the back rooms.

Klyton’s room, it turned out, was the furthest from the front of the house, and the closest to where the blue lion had parked itself. The faint blue glow from the particle barrier was visible even through the closed blinds. The decorations seemed simple, bed pushed into the corner along the far wall, a desk covered in papers, an overfull bookshelf and closed wardrobe.

All as would be expected to suit the needs of the teenager who lived here. Lance spotted Klyton quickly where she was sitting on her bed, leaning into the corner with an air of tiredness around her eyes and posture. And after entering the room, Lance finally understood the source of the girls seemingly constant fatigue.

Lance was still fully human, that much was confirmed by the Atlas crew shortly after the paladins had returned from their last mission. The marks didn’t change that about him. They did, however, give Lance a strange sensitivity to the flow of Quintessence, a faint buzz in the back of his mind. The appearance of Blue’s energy to the planet the day prior had been enough to tip Lance off to her presence, and the crescents had glowed as a sort of response to the sudden change.

The room Lance stood in now was the exact opposite to the previous event. The constant hum in his mind instantly faded to near silence, his veins flushed with a sudden chill with the lack of energy. All emanating from the black rock settled into the wristband sitting on Klyton’s limp arms.

“You’ve been making her wear one of those energy-sucking bands,” Lance said without thinking. Behind him Keith tensed at the sight of how weak the girl appeared. She looked up at their entrance, eyes meeting Lance’s with a flash of recognition before her mother stood to block their view.

“It’s the only way to keep her from powers from exploding out, what else would you have us do? After yesterdays excitement she woke up practically glowing, we’re just doing what we have to in order to keep her safe,” Salin replied tersely.

Lance gaped at him, surprised at the lengths this man had gone without the usually sharp-eyed human even having a clue. Coran had rambled for hours in the past about how dangerous those types of minerals were, especially to Chosen Altean’s whose bodies were so adapted to a near constant flow of quintessence. Keith stepped in to move the conversation forward while Lance tried to restart his brain.

“I understand that sometimes difficult choices must be made, but this does seem like a bit much,” Keith said. Not giving the man a chance to reply, Keith pushed on. “Now, we need to talk to Klyton alone. What we have to say is very confidential and extremely important to her well being from now on. I’m sure you won’t have a problem with waiting outside the room for just a few minutes?”

Salin was loath to trust the Blade General, it was obvious in the way that he looked at him. But Arina stepped forward to rest a hand on his arm, shaking her head infinitesimally to remind him that starting a fight now wouldn’t be worth it. With an angry grunt the man stormed out of the room, his wife following after him with a nod in apology for her husband’s behavior.

_But she’s just as guilty in all this_ , Lance reminded himself as he tore his eyes away from her and back to the small figure across the room.

“Klyton,” he choked out, stumbling forwards to grasp her hand carefully. It felt chilly, as if the stone was sucking out her warmth alongside her energy. “Klyton, I’m so sorry I didn’t realize.”

“It’s not your fault, really. It’s not like this would be anyone’s first conclusion,” the girl said somewhat bitterly. Then she laughed. “I can’t even really blame my parents, not when I can tell exactly how they’re feeling every time they lock the thing on. They really think this is the best option. But I can’t… I can’t keep living like this. I feel so weak, and it’s like being blind and deaf not being able to read emotions like normal. The quiet is so unnerving.”

Lance noted without comment how openly she talked about her abilities now, as if she had been longing to do so for a long time. And the former paladin decided, then and there, that he would do whatever he had to in order to get her out. He’d have to sort out his problems later. Klyton’s wellbeing as the new Blue Paladin was far more important than his own.

Lance stood slowly, still gently holding her hand as he looked over at Keith, who had stayed a respectful distance back from the other too while also keeping an eye on the closed door.

“We’re going to need a plan,” Lance said under his breath, just loud enough so that the two could hear. Klyton’s head shot up, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Not here,” Keith said back just as quietly. “We can’t risk being overheard and outsmarted before it’s too late. We can talk at your place.”

Lance nodded determinedly, looking back to the girl that was his new purpose.

“We’ll be back soon. We’re going to get you out, Kly. I promise.”

“I trust you,” she said back quietly, hesitantly. “Probably more than I do anyone else. You’ve always been so kind and done your best to help me when I needed an adult who would listen. Just… don’t take too long, please.”

“I got you covered, kid,” Lance smiled, trying his best to reassure the young girl. With one last squeeze of her hand he let go and moved towards the door, whispering quickly to Keith about getting the key to take that horrid band off as soon as possible.

-       -       -

Coran relaxed into his chair, sipping some Nunvil on the highest balcony in the Castle of Altea, which overlooked the adjacent fields. From this high up, the ginger-haired Altean could just barely make out the top of the blue lion’s particle barrier, the glow becoming more prominent as the sun started to set once again.

It was too far, unfortunately, to be able to see Lance’s house, where Coran knew the two former paladins currently on New Altea had met earlier that day. Ever since sending Keith off there had been no further communication from the two humans, but Coran knew that didn’t mean anything. Keith’s instructions to keep the Altean government out of any escape shenanigans they tried to pull had been very clear, after all.

That didn’t mean that Coran was about to miss what he knew was bound to unfold. With Keith involved, there would have to be something dramatic.

Sure enough, just as the sun dipped below the horizon there was a flash of movement in the upper atmosphere, and a plain black ship which looked suspiciously similar to an obscured Blade shuttle shot down towards the distant farmland.

A couple Altean sentries followed in its wake, not attacking but certainly distrustful of the unannounced visitor, no doubt trying to make contact. It was easy to guess that all the inhabitants of the area were already scrambling to see the cause of the commotion, especially when the shuttle fired a few shots into the grass. That was a distraction, then.

Sure enough, not a minute later the glow of the particle barrier around the blue lion vanished. Another minute in and the lion was taking off, a bit wobbly at first but quickly steadying and launching up towards where Coran knew the Blade transport ship was orbiting the planet.

The shuttle took off after the lion as the sentries finally starting firing after the escapees. But the lion was faster, and the shuttles pilot superior, and both crafts quickly disappeared into the atmosphere. A blue flash shortly thereafter indicated the completion of the escape as the transport wormholed away.

Coran took another swig of Nunvil as the sentries started to reconvene to figure out what just happened. Despite knowing how much work would result from the backlash what was essentially a successful kidnapping, the Altean Regent found himself smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's that, the whole team is assembled on Earth! I really enjoyed writing this chapter (it was my first time writing hurt/comfort stuff like this), so I hope you all enjoyed the feels as well! Next time the kids all meet and the former paladins reunite in Chapter 6- "The Beginning".


	6. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new paladins meet for the first time, and the former paladins begin to form a plan.

Chance yawned as she followed the instructions through the currently grounded Atlas to the lion’s hanger. Knowing the paladins would likely be setting off into space at some point, the Garrison had decided to just make the Atlas their base of operations. They’d even been given rooms in the officer’s wing.

 This would be the first time the entire team met. The first thing Chance noticed when the hanger door opened to admit her was all five lions lined up around the room, with Red humming a greeting towards her from her position to the right of Black. Just below the head lion was a small crowd of humanoids conversed, voices echoing around the otherwise empty room.

Chance analyzed them all curiously as she walked towards the group. All four of the adults, of course, were easily recognizable. Shiro, Hunk, Lance, and of course Keith. The latter called out a greeting to Chance as she approached, and the girl was reminded of their conversation the previous day. The former green paladin, Katie Holt AKA Pidge, was noticeably absent.

Probably picking up her successor, considering that the Olkari boy Chance had glimpsed from afar yesterday was also missing. The present three new Paladins turned

Of the kids, Randoc, the Galra boy, was the only one she easily recognized, having talked to him the evening Red had arrived. He was the oldest and the tallest of the new paladins, his purple-skinned body standing out easily among the other aliens on the planet. Not many full Galra currently resided on Earth, and it was easy to see why with the stir his arrival had caused among the current Atlas crew. Luckily everyone was too busy and too excited about the return of Voltron to put up any real complaints.

The youngest of the group, the Balmeran boy who piloted Yellow, stood out on account of his broad shoulders and stone-like appearance. Not many Balmeran’s ever left their planet, but with the close proximity to Earth’s new crystal-providing neighbor there were a noticeable few working with the Garrison at any given time. The boy had looked nervous to be here as soon as he landed last night. Hopefully that fear would abate quickly, but Chance wasn’t overly hopeful.

The Altean girl had arrived only a few hours prior, making this the first time Chance had ever seen her. She was thin, verging on the edge of ill looking really. Chance wasn’t sure how that would work in terms of being a defender of the universe and all. The short girl’s vaguely human appearance gave her an innocent, angelic air. She spun around at Chance got closer, eyes locking on to the brown-haired human girl with a strange intensity and curiosity that made Chance’s skin crawl.

“Chance,” Randoc says in greeting. “meet Vir of the Balmera, pilot of Yellow, and Klyton of New Altea, pilot of Blue.” The young paladins all mutter greetings.

The hanger door opened loudly to admit the final two members of their party, Katie and the Olkari pilot of the green lion. He was a bit shorter than Klyton, and already bouncing towards them with much more energy than should be exhibited this early in the morning. His mentor followed with more reservation, yawning heavily in apparent tiredness.

In the corner of Chance’s vision, Klyton stifled a yawn in response, earning a concerned glance from Lance where he observed his charge from a few meters away. It made the human girl glad that Keith seemed much more withdrawn with his affection, as there’s no way Chance could trust someone that forward with their kindness.

The Olkari boy arrived then, already talking excitedly.

“Hello, I’m Olsyn, and I’m piloting the green lion! I’m so excited to meet you guys. Gosh, aren’t the lions so cool? The engineering of them is amazing. And they’re so big! Like, I thought Green was huge but compared to Yellow or Black I guess she’s actually on the smaller side, huh? Oh, sorry, I’m off track. What are your guys’ names?”

“Woah there,” Randoc said with a smile at the small Olkari’s excitement. He patiently ran through all the introductions again, obviously used to dealing with excited youngsters. Vir blinked at the two, looking overwhelmed by the sudden energy. Klyton edged slowly towards Chance, who frowned at the Altean but allowed the proximity.

Finally, Hunk stepped in to save them from the chaos of Olsyn overexcitedly asking Vir about what it was like on a Balmera, announcing warmly that he had breakfast for the paladins waiting in their private mess hall. Chance, being the most familiar with the Atlas’s layout, lead the new paladins away as the adults stayed behind to talk business.

Looking from the hyper Olkari to the nervous Balmeran to the awkwardly close yet silent Altean, Chance sat down next to the seemingly much more reasonable Galra boy, already regretting having woken up this morning.

-       -       -

The former paladins all stay silent as Hunk ushers the kids out, no one willing to start the conversation yet. Pidge shot Lance a couple of glances when she was sure he wasn’t looking, and she noticed that the others were doing the same. There were all hesitant of the Cuban after the disastrous meeting the previous year, everyone dragged down with their own guilt at the situation.

Lance, probably easily sensing the tension in the room, spoke first as Hunk rejoined the small circle.

“So… I know everyone is probably feeling awkward after I broke down at the last Celebration of Allura meeting. But really, I would prefer we don’t discuss that. What’s happened has happened, I don’t blame you guys for anything, so don’t even try to feel guilty.”

“But we should have-” Hunk’s attempt at apology was quickly cut off by his oldest friend.

“Really Hunk, it’s fine. I was too stuck in grief to think clearly. I still am, to an extent. But Keith and I had a good talk, and I managed to focus up when I talked to Klyton for a bit. I need to be able to focus on the task at hand. So, what’s the plan Admiral?” Lance finished, turning to Shiro. The two exchanged a nod before the older man took over.

“Well, I assume at this point everyone is aware of the Sincline Mech’s appearance and subsequent attacks on nearby ships and planets?” Shiro checked, waiting for everyone to nod before continuing. “Well, as we expected, Voltron is clearly the main target. Ever since we started assembling the lions here, the Mech has noticeably redirected its course towards our location. None of the Blade’s probes that we’ve been sending have been able to read anything besides the overwhelming amount of quintessence in the machine before they are targeted, so we are still unclear on whether or not Lotor is also on board.

“None of the planets the Mech has encountered as of yet have been heavily populated, but it is quickly reaching larger systems. The Blade’s peacekeepers have been shoring up defenses on planets in the line of attack, but it very likely won’t be enough.”

The man sighed, running a hand through his pale hair.

“After discussing countless possible senarios, we have come to the decision that the only option is to board the Atlas and keep moving, lead the Mech away from Earth, away from as many populated planets as possible. We can’t confront it directly, not yet. The lions may be back, but the new Paladins aren’t near ready. We’ll wormhole around to different locations as much as necessary, continue to try and analyze the threat.”

Shiro’s eyes roved the small group, gaging their reactions. None seemed surprised by the decision, already fully aware of the severity of the situation. Pidge struggled to keep focus on the information. She was up late the previous few nights trying to piece together the scattered data the drones had retrieved, only to come up empty. Luckily for her, she already knew where this conversation was heading, so her she could still keep up.

“As the former paladins, it will be best for us to accompany the Atlas crew and train the new paladins. We are the most familiar with the lions, the traditional training techniques, the struggles they will face in the coming months. It also works out nicely for all of us to take on one of them as our direct mentee. That would put Lance with Klyton, Pidge with Olsyn, Hunk with Vir, Keith with Chance, and me with Randoc. Any complaints?”

Hunk frowned.

“So, we all just pack up and leave Earth for an undetermined amount of time? It’s not really great timing with Shay and I, to be honest.” Shiro nodded knowingly.

“Having families is hard. Believe me, I’m reluctant to leave Curtis and Theo for what is essentially another spur of the moment, potentially dangerous mission. We’ve had enough of those over the years. But this is what we have to do, for the good of those families, for the entire universe. I woulden’t force anyone on the crew if they were unwilling to travel, and that includes us. Are we all in?”

Keith nodded firmly, having already decided the previous night. Lance, to everyone’s surprise, responded with a quick and resolute affirmative, with Pidge’s quieter yes only a second later. Hunk was last to respond, but even he only hesitated for a few seconds before agreeing to join the group.

“Alright,” Shiro continued, pleased. “That’s all the information I wanted to get through today. We’re taking off in another week, so use this time to prepare. We’ll reconvene tomorrow to inform the kids and then begin discussion around training and important details from the kid’s background information that I have a team pulling together. We’ll wait until we’re traveling until we do a full ability assessment.”

Once again, the team agreed. Lance frowned at the addition of the background checks, knowing that he and Keith would likely have to fill in some gaps for Klyton.

“There is one last thing I wish to bring up. Obviously the Sincline Mech is a very dangerous threat that the new paladins are going to have to face sooner or later. However, there are many people, me included, who worry that the kids won’t be able to perform well with that pressure hanging over them. Many of them have very little experience as soldiers. Telling them now will likely cause unneeded fear and hesitance to participate. As such, we have decided to temporarily keep them in the dark about the situation, allowing them to focus on bonding with the lions and each other before we are forced to throw them into battle. Randoc, as a full Officer in the Blades and the black paladin, will be periodically updated, but the rest of them aren’t to be informed until further notice. Everyone on board the Atlas will be briefed on this, but we will still be using this empty Officers wing on the Atlas to keep them away from the main crew. Okay?”

This time, there was no disagreement among the group, despite the very drastic measures they would be taking to keep information from their charges. They were all too aware of the pressure and trauma that these kids were about to be thrown headfirst into, and all the adults were united in wanting to protect them as much as possible.

No one worried about the anger they would get for keeping the information like this from the new paladins. Right now, their training was more important.

“Alright then. The first Advisors meeting is now concluded. Let’s go check on the paladins, shall we?”

Pidge followed the team out, already wincing at the thought of the damage an overexcited Olsyn could have caused in the mere half an hour he had been without adult supervision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Better late than never, right? Yesterday was rough for me, I had absolutely zero free time to sit down and post this chapter. Speaking of lack of free time, next week's chapter may also be delayed if I can't find time to write, as I have officially run out of pre-written chapters. Comments and Kudos will go a long way to encourage me to get it done sooner rather than later, so don't be afraid to say hi!
> 
> Until next time, stay tuned as the real adventure will begin in Chapter 7: Departure!


	7. Preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins and Advisers prepare to leave Earth

The next few days were a flurry of activity around the Galaxy Garrison as Atlas and Crew prepared to launch. As launch day grew closer, those chosen to travel with the Voltron team said goodbye to their loved ones, knowing that it will be at the least a few months, and more likely years, before they would return.

The reality that they could never return was left as an unsaid cloud hanging over most of the crew, making all the young Paladin’s unfiltered and mounting excitement as they began the initial stages of combat training all the more standout.

The former Paladins, who were slowly becoming more widely known as the Voltron Advisors, worked tirelessly in the coming days to prepare for the voyage themselves. They were all leaving behind notable positions in their respective roles, after all. The chain of command for the Garrison, Holt Tech, and Blades had to be reworked in their imminent absence.

Not to mention that they had a very dwindling amount of time to figure out how to train the new Paladins, something that none of them had ever experienced. Coran, luckily, was a very willing source of information for the team, and it became Lances job to stay in close contact with him as a tentative plan of action was formed.

The night before the Atlas was to depart, Shiro finally called it all enough.

“Everyone take the night off, go spend time with your families. We’ve done all we can to prepare, and the Paladins can all survive the night without us hovering over them. I suspect after the training Iverson dragged them through, they’ll want to turn in early anyways. Tomorrow will be a big day. Enjoy a last meal in peace before we all essentially become full time parents trapped with our kids in the middle of space.”

The team had all chuckled at the thought. They had all grown close to their successors over the past week, after all, and when it came down to it, they would be the teens’ primary caretakers once the Atlas left the ground. As the only one of them with actual childrearing experience and the oldest Successor, Shiro was enjoying cracking jokes about the situation a little too much for the other Advisor’s liking.

They all knew, though, that ultimately Shiro was the one leaving the most behind, so they tolerated his teasing.

From there the team separated.

Shiro left to enjoy the night with Curtis and Theo, a final goodbye to his young family and a reminder of what he was, and always has been, fighting to protect.

Pidge visited with her parents, joined by Matt and his family as once again the Holt’s prepared to send a member into a universe-saving war.

Out of those with families on Earth, Hunk and Shay had the least emotional final meal. The moment Hunk had haltingly finished telling his partner the plan, she had quickly, almost forcefully, signed up to go with them as a Cook. Hunk, while hesitant to bring the balmeran into danger, was nonetheless grateful that he could bring his closest friend with him. After a quick video call with Hunk’s family, who now lived across the world, the couple enjoyed a quiet night before the inevitable hustle and bustle that came with shepherding around a bunch of teens for the foreseeable future. Shay was silently happy that Hunk’s charge had turned out to be a fellow balmeran, excited to get to know another member of her species.

-      -       -

Keith lingered behind the others as they all split off to their respective family gatherings and goodbyes, unsure what to do. His only living family was lightyears away on New Daibazal, and his position in the Blades made it difficult to interact with his or the Garrison’s officers without the others feeling intimidated.

The half-galran hesitantly started edging towards the door, thinking about hitting the training deck before taking an early lights-out. When he caught sight of Lance lingering by the door as well, the orange hue of his temporary uniform clashing dully with his eyes and markings, Keith changed course without thought.

“Hey, Lance, any plans?”

The former blue paladin blinked at Keith, his hesitant flash of surprise quickly covered with an almost grim smile.

“Not really. Haven’t talked to my family in years, after all. I’m not even sure if any of them live around here anymore. For all I know they’ve moved back to Cuba. And even if I did have an address… I don’t think I could face them right now just to leave again the next morning. Maybe when we come back…” Lance finished somberly.

“Yeah, I get it dude,” Keith said assuringly, wanting to change the subject. “Well, as it happens, I am also Scott free tonight. I guess that happens when your only family is a representative on a distant planet. Do you… wanna come with me to the training deck for a bit? It doesn’t even have to be serious training, we can just mess around with the simulator. Hell, I can even teach you some sword stuff, I know you learned the basics a while back. You can try and show me how to shoot a blaster too, if you want, but I have to warn you that I’m not all that great.”

“Swords would be cool,” Lance said gratefully, a ghost of his former self shining through the now less-forced smile. “I actually haven’t used a blaster in years, but all that farming has got to have given me some arm strength, yeah?”

“We’ll see about that, _sharpshooter_ ,” Keith teased, leading the way to the Atlas’s newly-refurbished training deck.

-       -       -

Hours later, Lance made his way tiredly through the halls towards his room, muscles comfortably burning. Despite his boasting, the Cuban had been unable to beat his eternal rival. _At least, not in a fair fight_ , he added with a grin. They had even tried shooting for a bit. It had surprised Lance that even after so long his skill, while obviously diminished, was still passable, nonetheless. Keith had quickly admitted his defeat in that department in favor with smacking Lance on the arm with his training sword a few more times before they called it a day.

Lance headed straight for the Advisor’s wing on the Atlas, where he had made permanent residence. It was late now, most of the Crew had called it a night in preparation for the activity that would unfold tomorrow. The overall emptiness and time were mainly why he was surprised to see the small figure waiting fidgetingly in the common area.

Klyton leapt up as her mentor entered the room, turning to face him with wide eyes. Lance took a moment to appraise her. Even with only having been off of New Altea for a week, there was an obvious improvement to the young altean’s overall health. Her clothes no longer hung off of her in obvious ill-fit, though the fact that she had traded her Altean dress for some warmer Earth-brand clothing likely helped that along. Her skin had lost its sickly pallor, her pale violet cheek marks standing out crisply on the smooth skin.

The only thing that seemed to persist was the tense way she seemed to hold herself, like a spring waiting to snap. In some ways, it had almost seemed to get worse as the days progressed. From his admittedly little readings on mental-based altean powers, Lance had guessed that the girl was having trouble adjusting to the significantly larger population she was now surrounded by. He had meant to talk to her after they had taken off tomorrow, but now was as good of a time as any he supposed.

“Hey Klyton, how are you doing?” Lance asked the girl warmly, walking forward to join her in the center of the furniture circle.

The silver-haired altean shifted nervously, rubbing her right hand over her left wrist as a nervous habit Lance had discreetly picked up on.

“Um… I wanted to talk to you about something. But you might get mad at me, so… um…”

Lance hid a frown, wondering what the girl was hiding that had her so high-strung. He sat on the couch, patting the spot next to him until she obliged and sat stiffly.

“I won’t get mad,” he told her truthfully. God knows how the girl had grown on him so quickly that there wasn’t even a smidge of doubt to his words. “What’s bothering you, Kly?”

She smiled at the nickname, shoulders relaxing ever so slightly as she undoubtedly read the conviction in his words.

“Um, it’s this, actually,” she said quietly as she reached into her pocket and presented an object to him, slowly reaching forward to deposit it into Lance’s hands. The blue-eyed human blinked in surprise as what he was holding registered.

“One of those energy-absorbing bands? You kept one of those?” Surprise flashed through him, and confusion. When Klyton flinched slightly, Lance carefully focused on pulling up feelings of _safe, warm, forgiveness_ to ease her nerves again. He lifted an arm welcomingly and the girl slumped into the embrace bonelessly, curling into Lance’s broad chest.

“I don’t really know why I took it, honest. Really, I know I should have been glad to see them both gone. But something made me keep it, I guess I was so used to having to have them that it was instinctual? And then I was going to ditch it as soon as we got to Earth, honestly. But then we got here, and everything was so _loud_. The Blade soldiers on Keith’s ship were so well composed, I thought that I would be fine. But the humans here are so openly expressive, its like their all shouting at me. And there’s so many people here. I’ve been trying to just get used to it and filter it all out like I’m supposed to but there’s so much and then my head starts hurting, and I end up hiding in my room but its still _there_. It’s so hard to sleep, everyone is too close by. So I put the band under my pillow, just to take the edge off, you know? But then I woke up this morning and it was on my wrist, and I panicked and-”

Lance pulled the girl firmly into his chest, cutting off her rising hysteria and sudden outburst. For a moment he just pressed his face to the top of her head, the slightest tinge of unsureness as to whether or not he could actually help this too-pure child. But his resolve hardened as sobs wracked her still too-small frame, and he once again found his words.

“Hey now, Klyton. It’s okay. No one is judging you for needing time to adjust, we all know enough to realize how hard it is, even for people who haven’t gone through the years of suppressants that you did. I’m going to do my best to help you, okay? You’re the strongest kid here, I know you can get through this.”

Her sobs lessened slightly, leaving her sniffling.

“Really?”

“Really,” Lance told her, giving her another squeeze for emphasis. “How about this? I’m going to hang on to this for now. Whenever it starts to overwhelm you, you have to come tell me, okay? I don’t care what I’m doing at the time, just come find me or send me a message and I’ll be there as fast as I can be.

“We’re going to try and find better ways to cope, I’ve been reading up a lot on meditation training and such, we can try that. And I’ll make sure you get some high-strength pain medication in your room for the headaches. And if it’s still too much, and nothing is working, then I’ll let you use the band for a bit, just to let you recover a bit. But only when I’m there to keep an eye on you, alright? I have to know that you’re safe, but your sanity is a part of that safety as well. You just gotta keep me in the loop, kiddo. Deal?”

Klyton nodded into the former paladin’s chest, earning another tight hug.

Lance glanced at his watch, suddenly realizing that it was quickly approaching midnight. With a bit of effort and complaining muscles, he carefully shifted Klyton and lifted both of them off the couch, making the relatively short trek to her room. He carefully tucked the quickly crashing teenager into bed, deciding that the clothes she had on would be comfortable enough for now.

The Advisor silengly brushed the girl’s hair aside before turning to leave, looking back as he felt the slight tug of a hand pulling on the back of his shirt.

“Thanks,” Klyton mumbled sleepily, eyes sinking closed with finality as her body finally allowed her to relax.

Lance took a moment to take in the heartwarming sight of the young girl’s sleepy form in the dim lighting from the hallway, a gentle smile on his face.

“Sleep tight, kid,” he whispered to her before turning away for the night, the door hissing quietly closed behind him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I managed to get it done, so here you go! Thank you to everyone who's left Kudos and comments so far, it means a lot to me that at least a couple people care about this little project of mine. This chapter came out longer than I thought, and as such I decided to shift part of it to the next chapter, hence the title change. I think it will fit better this way, but whether or not it works will remain to be seen.
> 
> Once again there is a chance that I won't be able to put together a chapter for next week, so if you don't want to wait feel free to peer pressure me into it with comments and kudos! Otherwise it might take a bit longer.
> 
> Next time, the crew takes off in Chapter 8: "Departure"

**Author's Note:**

> Note from chapter 1:  
> Oh boy, here we go! This is my first official fanfiction and first time posting on this site, so please excuse any glaring mistakes in formatting as I work to figure out what I'm doing. 
> 
> This work is essentially my reaction to the ending of season 8, which I would describe as a disappointed optimism. Was it everything I hoped it would be? No. But in its own way it brought us new opportunities, and the ending was still open enough to allow for interpretation of what could happen afterwords. From my musings on this, this story was created. If at least a couple people will enjoy this story in the way I am enjoying writing it, then I think my job is done.
> 
> I hope to update once or twice a week, and will do my best to keep up with any comments and suggestions despite how busy I will be in the coming months. So until next time, see ya Pala-dudes!


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